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Tuesday, June 19, 2012

I was super nervous about how it all would turn out, seeing as I've never hosted anything like that before. I planned for weeks and made lots and lots of lists to keep myself organized.

Of course, since it was me, I was most concerned about the food, since that is the focal point of any event as far as I'm concerned. Thanks to a number of great food blogs and recipes from my mom and my friend Amy, the food turned out amazing. A lot of it could be prepared in advance too which is always a plus.

The menu:

Chicken salad sandwiches on croissants: my mom's recipe. I don't know the proportions of anything, but it's mayo-based with pineapple, sliced almonds, and dried cranberries. It's so delicious I could eat it every day, and this coming from a girl who doesn't usually care for mayonnaise!

Vegetarian Asian noodle salad: I've blogged about it here, but it's originally from VeganYumYum. This time, however, I used peanut butter instead of tahini and brown rice pasta.

Cocktail meatballs: I used the frozen meatballs from Costco, and the crockpot made this so easy.

Rainbow fruit skewers

Mini caprese bites: these were a huge hit! We used Zoom Yummy's version.

Mango chutney over cream cheese with assorted crackers: recipe from Simply Gluten Free. I used thawed, frozen mango, chopped into smaller pieces. It calls for coconut palm sugar, something I hadn't ever used before but I was able to buy it in bulk so I didn't have to buy a whole lot. It's not too spicy, so if you wanted more heat, add more chilis or leave some seeds in.

Shrimp and cocktail sauce: prepared tray from Costco

Mimosas

Mini cupcakes with marionberry filling: my mom made these, so I'm not sure of the recipe.

I know this is supposed to be a food blog, but now for some crafty things:

The invitations: I bought some tulle already cut in circles from a craft store to use as the skirt.

The centerpieces:

One of the prizes:

I melted some odds and ends candles to make a new candle in an antique tea cup. Idea from Georgica Pond. I tied it with ribbon to hold it together and then wrapped it with tulle. I also had some store-bought lotions and soaps for prizes in case of ties, and there was one, so I'm glad I thought of that!

One of the games: homemade scratch-its! There is a great tutorial here. The losing cards had a cartoon picture of a frog with the word "sorry" written underneath.

What a lovely shower! I absolutely love the invitations--nicely done! I am throwing my niece a bridal shower in a couple of weeks, so this was a fun read for me! It's a lot of work, but so much fun, and so worth it, don't you think? Congrats to your sister.

What a fabulous shower! The spread looks amazing...your food choices were perfect and delicious! And I love all your crafty stuff, too...especially the invite and the scratch and reveal (I had no clue you could do this at home!). Excellent post!